The College’s Active Bystander training programme has won an ‘Excellence in HR’ award at the 2018 Universities Human Resources (UHR) Awards.

The UHR Awards celebrate the most exceptional initiatives and projects in Higher Education Human Resources. Imperial’s Active Bystander programme triumphed in the Organisational Development and Culture Change category.

The Faculty of Engineering began delivering the training programme in July 2017 after launching its ‘Have Your Say’ campaign, which aimed to gather information on staff concerns and workplace behaviour.Following the programme’s success, training is now being rolled out across the College.

Active Bystander training helps staff speak out and address issues around bullying, harassment, “micro-aggressions” and “micro-inequities.” Judges called the initiative “a really powerful entry” that is “sending a strong signal about culture change”. 

Being more vocal

Su Nandy, Senior HR Manager at Imperial College London, said: “We are delighted to have won the ‘Excellence in HR’ award as we have achieved a lot in a short space of time. Active Bystander training has come at a crucial time when an increasing number of people are speaking up about bullying and harassment, with movements such as #MeToo and #TimesUp receiving attention on a global scale.

"In a similar way, Active Bystander training also encourages College staff to be more vocal and challenge poor behaviours to create change.”

Speaking on behalf of UHR, Executive Director Helen Scott added: “What Imperial has achieved here is no easy feat. It’s a triumph of culture change, and judges were really impressed at the strong signal that the training has sent out about our collective responsibility to tackle issues around bullying and harassment in the workplace.” 

Expanding our reach

Over 1,500 staff have now attended the Active Bystander training, and the College hopes to increase this figure to 3,000. Next month, it will expand its reach to target students in a pilot project.

Winners of the UHR Awards were announced during a gala dinner at the UHR annual conference in Bristol. More information on the winning and shortlisted entries is featured on the UHR website.